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Chief Owner/ Administrator
Ontario, Canada
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Aug 1998
time: 22:31
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The two-hundred-and-twenty-eighth edition of "The Column" is now online. Written by Apolyton Civilization Site forum user 'Maniac', he tells Civilization IV modders that when designing a tech tree to have it revolve around key themes in their work.
Comments on this piece are welcome in this thread and/or via email in communicating directly to the author.
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quote:
Originally posted by LDiCesare
There's one thing that's been overlooked, which is the ability to research other techs. Although it's not particularly flashy, a tech whose sole effect is to be a prerequisite for 4 other, more interesting, techs. Such a tech is often very precious and is worth trading, even though it doesn't do anything 'per se'. |
That's indeed a good point, and that (most techs being absolute requirement for further techs) is a big reason why the Civ4 tech tree doesn't suck, despite many techs not providing a universal benefit.
However one could raise the question:
"If the only use of a tech is that it leads to another tech, what's the point of making it two seperate techs?"
I can give the answer myself:
"Because sometimes you're in a strategy where you want one or more of those specific or first researcher benefits, but you don't want to spend the extra time researching what it leads to in order to get them."
Still, while a tech tree where many techs' only universal benefit is that it is required for other techs, isn't a bad tech tree, the tech tree would IMO be more interesting and the tech in question more fun to research if it also always directly provided a universal benefit. Eg while I rationally know Paper leads to other important techs, I never feel particularly excited when I get it. Rather disappointed or bored in fact. And for a good civ game I guess you want a player to feel happy with every new achievement made, to encourage "one more turn!".
But yeah, a tech leading to other techs should most likely be added to the list of universal benefits.
Last edited by Maniac on 28-04-2008 at 10:45
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